Liza Egbogah
Manual osteopath
?When I first heard about the return to virtual school, my first thought was?pardon my language?F the Ontario government. I was incredibly angry. My son, Bemi, is in Grade 2, and last year, there wasn?t a single Covid case in his class. His school took all the necessary precautions over the summer to keep the students safe from Covid: there are only 15 kids per class, and they keep a row of windows open for ventilation. But because other schools can?t do the same thing, we all get cut short. I don?t consider virtual learning to be real school. The first time around, Bemi was taught by a number of supply teachers who would tell him to go on YouTube or do a math game for an hour.
?I work at my clinic or shoe office every day, and my husband, who?s in finance, works from home in his basement office. That means means our seven-year-old is essentially alone without supervision for most of the day. My husband is supposed to go back to the office in March. If Bemi is still in virtual school, I?m facing the possibility of having to reduce my clinic hours, which will be a financial hit. ?It?s basically impossible to keep Bemi engaged in virtual school. He will leave his iPad and start playing games, or leave his room and go play basketball. He?s tech-savvy, so sometimes he turns the camera off and blames it on technical difficulties. I take the approach that as long as he?s doing something creative and using his brain, it?s fine. He creates things like...